downtown
STEAMPUNK QUEEN OF HEARTS, PG. 24
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VOLUME 24, NUMBER 23
express THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN
OCTOBER 19 - 25, 2011
After a soldier’s death; community wants full investigation
Downtown Express photo by John Bayles
Occupying the center of the world Over 6,000 people invaded Times Square on Saturday as part of a worldwide call to action initiated by Occupy Wall Street. The movement is now in its second month.
BY ALINE REYNOLDS A criminal investigation is underway to trace the cause of the mysterious death of 19-year-old U.S. Army Private Danny Chen, whose body was found on Oct. 3 in a guard tower in Kandahar, Afghanistan with a gunshot wound to the head. The fatality was not combat related, according to U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command Spokesperson Christopher Grey. Speculations are therefore swirling that Chen, who was born and raised on the Lower East Side, was either shot by a fellow officer or that he committed suicide. Grey refused to comment on either speculation.
“We’re conducting a very thorough and in-depth investigation into Private Chen’s death,” Grey said. “It would be premature to discuss anything that happened, [in order] to protect the case.” Local elected officials and community organizations are now demanding a timely and comprehensive study of Chen’s death, which they believe might correlate with racial harassment the private purportedly experienced while overseas. “We want to know the truth of what happened to Danny Chen. No lies, no cover-ups, just the truth,” said Elizabeth OuYang, president of the New York branch of the Organization
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A month in, O.W.S. protestors and community trying to coexist BY CYNTHIA MAGNUS As Occupy Wall Street enters its second month, and demonstrators continue to reside in Zuccotti Park, elected officials, community stakeholders and the protestors are attempting to find ways to coexist. “This is a neighborhood of working class people, the same people you represent,” said Pat Moore, chair of Community Board 1’s Quality of Life Committee, at the Occupy Wall Street General Assembly in Zuccotti Park on Oct. 15. The topic of discussion was a reduction in the noise caused by the drum circle, which has disturbed area resi-
dents for up to twelve hours daily for almost a month. Moore told the assembly that she supports their movement, as do many of her neighbors. Moore, however, added, “But please give us some relief.” City Councilmember Margaret Chin said, “The single biggest issue is the drumming. So far, O.W.S. has been unable to limit the drumming. I know the drummers are a source of stress for the community and for people within O.W.S.” Chin said O.W.S. has agreed to limits on the drumming, and they have to follow through and enforce those rules. C.B. 1 Chair Julie Menin worked
with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, NYS Sen. Daniel Squadron and Chin, as well as other representatives and stakeholders, to develop a “good neighbor policy” with O.W.S. One of the challenges, according to Menin, was that the person initially responsible for relaying the concerns of the community board back to O.W.S. was not doing so — a problem that she said has now been resolved. “We are addressing proactively concerns as they are brought to us,” said Menin.
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Why they occupy Wall Street “occupiers” come from varied backgrounds and with many stories. Page 12